With Jon Stewart leaving The Daily Show later this year, correspondent Jessica Williams shut down any speculation that she might be in the running to take over, despite what many of her fans, our reader poll and the film Hot Tub Time Machine 2 have to say about it.
“I’m not hosting,” Williams tweeted Sunday night. “Thank you but I am extremely under-qualified for the job!”
Then, today, she responded to the author of a blog post who had attacked her for what she saw as false humility, urging her to “lean in”:
@shorterstory @TheBillfold This is incredibly insulting.
— Jessica R. Williams (@msjwilly) February 17, 2015
@shorterstory @TheBillfold Because you have personally decided, that I DON'T know myself- as a WOMAN you are saying that I need to lean in.
— Jessica R. Williams (@msjwilly) February 17, 2015
@shorterstory @TheBillfold Are you unaware, how insulting that can be for a fully functioning person to hear that her choices are invalid?
— Jessica R. Williams (@msjwilly) February 17, 2015
Williams then tweeted to her followers:
I am a black woman and I am a feminist and I am so many things. I am truly honored that people love my work. But I am not yours.
— Jessica R. Williams (@msjwilly) February 17, 2015
It was a message to those, like Ester Bloom, who were trying to put her in a box and force her to represent all black women. But apparently, Time magazine’s Tessa Berenson took it a different way, tying it directly to her comments about not wanting to take over The Daily Show:
Williams, who did not appreciate the suggestion that she was reacting angrily to her fans, did “fire back,” this time at Berenson:
@tcberenson @TIMECulture No Tessa, it was not at fans. It was at an article that I found to be very condescending and offensive.
— Jessica R. Williams (@msjwilly) February 17, 2015
@tcberenson @TIMECulture I love Time. But this was not at "fans." This is out of context and of a much of a larger issue in feminism.
— Jessica R. Williams (@msjwilly) February 17, 2015
@tcberenson Again, Tessa, this quote is out of context and presented as such on TIME.
— Jessica R. Williams (@msjwilly) February 18, 2015
No, I didn't. “@tcberenson: Jessica Williams fires back at fans who want her to replace Jon Stewart – "I am not yours" via TIME
— Jessica R. Williams (@msjwilly) February 18, 2015
@tcberenson @TIMECulture That just simply isn't true! This is TIME magazine for crying out loud. TIME!
— Jessica R. Williams (@msjwilly) February 18, 2015
As of this writing, Berenson has not responded to Williams and the Time headline remains unchanged.
UPDATE – 8:39 pm EST: Time has since updated the post, changed the headline to “Jessica Williams Says She’s ‘Underqualified’ to Host The Daily Show,” and posted this correction:
Correction: The headline and original version of this story misstated who Jessica Williams was responding to in her Twitter messages. She was responding to a writer who criticized her for saying she’s “underqualified” to host The Daily Show.
[Photo via screengrab]
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